The Knight and the Wizard
by reptilia28
Summary: Erza Scarlet seeks to join Fairy Tail. Along the way, she finds a friend and kindred spirit in the form of a wizard named Harry Potter. With him at her side, she will grow into the legendary Titania, Queen of Fairies, and find a place with people that she can call family. Platonic HP/Erza. Canon compliant. No pairings.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail.

It was an ordinary day in Magnolia Town. With a modest population of sixty thousand or so, the port city in the southeastern region of the country and kingdom of Fiore was a bustling hive of activity, its citizens dashing to and fro in pursuit of their respective errands. Ships of numerous shapes and sizes bordered the waterfront as merchant sailors unloaded their cargo to be later sold in the numerous markets nearby. Whole crates of fabrics, spices, and items of an arcane nature, both mundane and exotic were carried off their floating carriages to be stored in one of the many neighboring warehouses, while other ships unloaded their load of people seeking family and fortune from other lands.

From one of these boats stepped off a young girl by the name of Erza Scarlet. The girl, nearly twelve years of age, bore a mane of hair of the same brilliant hue as her name, as well as a single brown eye displaying a hardness normally seen in battle-hardened soldiers three times her age. Her attire was a set of filthy rags fit for a beggar covered by a simple plate armor slightly too large for her frame, a single small rucksack of items that she had managed to procure, and a patch covering her right eye, once white but now stained with dirt and salt. She had come to Magnolia Town to fulfill her promise to her fallen friend and mentor, a wizened old man that she knew simply as "Grandpa Rob". She had said once that she wanted to become a wizard like he was, and with his death, her desire to fulfill that promise burned even greater than before. To that end, she set sail for Magnolia Town in order to join the wizard's guild that he had once been a part of, known as Fairy Tail.

Guilds are groups of wizards that join together to deal with problems that many others cannot deal with, for a fee. Though some would call this mercenary in nature – and indeed, some guilds hired themselves out as soldiers of fortune – many more see themselves as places where powerful and like-minded individuals can come together in fraternity to improve themselves and the lives of others. Fairy Tail in particular was regarded as the strongest guild in all of Fiore. Erza sought to honor Grandpa Rob's memory by joining Fairy Tail and becoming the strongest wizard that she could possibly be.

Unfortunately, as she stepped off the boat she realized that she had no idea how to get to Fairy Tail, nor indeed how to navigate the city in general. Even from the docks she could tell that the streets into the city twisted and curved in ways that could leave those unfamiliar with the cityscape lost with frightening ease. Erza felt a wave of apprehension build up in her stomach when she saw the crowds of people, and resolved to try and find the guild hall herself before asking anyone for directions. She weaved through the crowd, the people too wrapped up in their own worlds to pay much attention to the one-eyed vagrant girl.

Though she did not find the guild hall, or a map that would lead her there, Erza did find a particular store that caught her attention. The store was thirty feet wide by her estimation, and painted a light blue that mirrored the sky's hue. Above the door in large, flowing script read the words "Auntie Sweetie's Cakes & Things, est. X751". Behind the establishment's windows was the largest assortment of desserts that she had ever seen. Cakes, parfaits, pastries, and all other manner of decadent confections tempted the young girl with their bright colors and promises of sugary delight that made her mouth water in anticipation. Spotting a sign next to the door, Erza felt her hopes shatter when she saw what it read: "**All you can eat, 3000**" followed by the stylized curved symbol that symbolized jewels, the currency of Fiore. It had taken months for Erza to scrape up enough money to purchase passage to Magnolia Town, and now had barely over three hundred jewels left to her name. She did not know how long she had simply stood there, gazing forlornly at the treats sequestered behind the pane of glass, when she heard a voice laughing behind her.

"So are you gonna go in, or are you just going to stare at it all day?" the voice asked in amusement. Reacting on instinct, Erza reached out with her magic and summoned a short sword that she had previously stored in another dimension into her hand, spinning around to face the person addressing her. "Whoa, be careful there, girly! You could hurt someone with that thing!" the person – a man, she noticed – exclaimed, his voice carrying an unfamiliar accent.

He was a younger man; in his early or mid-twenties she would later hazard a guess. He wore a plain, long-sleeved gray button-up shirt, a pair of black, fingerless cloth gloves, and brown pants and boots. A simple black wizard's robe hung loosely on his shoulders, and around his neck hung a silver chain holding a strange pendant: A vertical line enclosed by a circle, which was further enclosed by a triangle. He had a head of ink-black hair that could charitably be described as a rat's nest that came down just above his eyes. Behind a set of round glasses were two brilliant green orbs that reminded her of Grandpa Rob: An air of wisdom greater than his youthful face would imply, along with a hint of mischief. Despite his declaration of alarm, the man did not seem to be intimidated by the blade currently pointing at him; in fact, he seemed to find the whole situation amusing, if the grin on his face was any indication.

"Where are your parents?" he asked, tilting his head slightly to one side in confusion. Having determined that the man before her was not currently a threat, Erza banished her blade to its resting place.

"…I don't have any," she eventually muttered softly. Her words caused the man's grin to fade away.

"Ah," he noted awkwardly, apparently unable to say anything else. As she expected, Erza saw pity in the man's eyes; she also saw something else. Understanding? After a few tense moments, the man's cheerful demeanor returned in force. "So, what's your name, little one?" he asked.

"Erza," the young girl replied. "Erza Scarlet."

"Lovely to meet you, Erza. My name is Harry," the man introduced himself, extending his hand out in an offering of greeting. After a moment's hesitation, Erza reached out and shook his hand, Harry smiling at the girl's firm grip. "So, you're probably pretty hungry right now, considering how intently you were staring at that cake earlier," he said with a teasing smile. Erza opened her mouth to deny it, but a grumbling from her stomach spoke volumes more than any words could. "That's what I thought," he drawled. "Tell you what, I'm feeling a bit puckish myself, so why don't you join me for a bite?" he offered, adding, "It'll be my treat."

Erza was about to open her mouth to refuse the offer before she was interrupted, the grumbling of her empty stomach speaking louder than any words. The man seemed honest enough, and she doubted that she could purchase anything substantial with what meager savings she had left, so she decided that it would be best to accept his offer.

When they entered the restaurant, Erza could not help but be amazed by what she saw. It was a decently-sized room with two dozen or so tables, the walls painted a pleasantly off-white color and the windows highlighted with pale yellow curtains. Several long tables covered with desserts of all kinds stood in the center of the room, its delectable offerings free for anyone to grab. Though it was in reality a fairly ordinary-looking restaurant, to Erza's sheltered sensibilities it might as well have been a dining hall from the royal palace itself.

She consumed the desserts with great gusto, consuming them so quickly that the treats seemed to disappear off their plates. Her favorite by far was the strawberry cake; she had consumed nearly an entire cake by herself within minutes.

"Slow down there, you'll make yourself sick if you keep that up," Harry said, laughing at the display even as he kept one arm wrapped protectively around his own fruit tart, lest it be swept up in the maelstrom of Erza's appetite.

"Sorry," she mumbled with her mouth full of apple pie before she swallowed and began to eat at a more reasonable pace. "I'll pay you back for this someday," she declared.

"Ah, it's no trouble," Harry replied with a dismissive wave. Before Erza could respond, he added, "But if it really bothers you that much, you can start by telling me what you're doing here in Magnolia."

"I'm here for Fairy Tail," Erza said. "A friend of mine was part of that guild, so I came here to join it."

"I see," Harry said. "And your friend, where is he?" he asked. Erza cast her gaze downwards, and Harry could see the sadness on her face.

"…He died," she muttered softly. She heard Harry make a hissing noise and looked up to see a grimace of his face, along with the same look of understanding as before.

"I'm sorry," the older man said. "Both for your friend's death and for my bringing it up; it was insensitive of me to ask." Erza did not respond, and they spent the next several minutes eating in uncomfortable silence. "Well, if you're going to be joining Fairy Tail, you're not going in dressed like _that_; good first impressions and all," Harry said, suddenly back to his cheerful self. "So after we're done here, we'll go get you some new clothes. And no arguments," he quickly added when he saw Erza open her mouth to retort.

"Why are you doing this?" the girl asked instead. Harry picked at his food while he considered the words that he would use.

"Because of your face," he finally said. He chuckled at her confused expression before he explained further. "You have a certain look, the kind that shows that you've seen horrible things, things that you desperately want to forget, but can't." Harry sighed before taking a drink to moisten his throat. "It's a look that no child should bear. It's also a look I used to have myself, a long time ago. So I guess what I'm saying is that you could say that I'm helping you partly out of pity, and partly out of empathy." Erza could think of nothing to say in response to his confession, so she ate in silence. After the two had eaten their fill, they left, Harry guiding them towards a place where they could purchase new clothes for her.

"So how did you get that look?" Erza asked as they navigated the winding streets of Magnolia Town. "If you don't mind me asking." Harry stopped in his tracks and closed his eyes. He let out a heavy sigh as he lost himself in his memories. He suddenly had the presence of a much older and wearier man.

"I was in a war," he said softly as they began to walk again at a slower pace. "A long time ago; wasn't much older than you, actually. I saw a lot of good friends die. Did some things I'm not proud of. Seen a lot of things that I'd like to forget, but can't." He opened his mouth, but for a moment no sound came out, like he was considering whether or not he should continue. Eventually, he said, "And the thing is, those kinds of memories never leave you. They always stick around, and the harder you try to forget them, the harder they hit back when you do remember. The only thing you can do is accept it, and try to live with it."

"So how do you live with it?" Erza asked, drinking in his every word.

"You surround yourself with people you can care about," Harry answered. "I had a few friends who survived, so we leaned on each other for support during the rough times. Later on I got married and started a family; that kept me sane then." A second later, Harry's somber aura suddenly disappeared like someone had flipped a switch in his mind, leaving him in his previously cheerful state. "But enough with this depressing talk," he said with a bright smile, "we've got to get you ready for a meeting with Fairy Tail!"

With an increased pace the duo managed to arrive at the clothing store that Harry was looking for. Erza carefully perused the selection of children's clothes before settling on a white button-up blouse with a red tie, dark blue pants, and a white skirt that reached just past her knees. Though it looked well on her, she felt that something was missing from her attire. Spotting a glint of light in the corner of her eye, she found a set of armor, a simple, plain breastplate with matching shoulder guards made by the renowned armor manufacturer Hearts Kreuz. She instantly fell in love with it, but was soon heartbroken when she saw that not only did it cost nearly 20,000 jewels, but it was much too big for her, the design more suited for an adult than a small child like her. But Harry flashed a mysterious smile before purchasing the armor as if the cost were no object to him. Once they left the store and went down a more secluded street, Harry stopped and asked Erza to put on the armor.

"Trust me," he said with his usual smile. Erza did not find the wide, toothy grin particularly reassuring, but the man had yet to lead her astray, so she decided to give him the benefit of a doubt and slipped the armor on. It weighed heavily on her shoulders, the shoulder guards leading down past her elbows and the bottom of the breastplate nearly reaching her knees. Harry reached into his left sleeve and withdrew a long, slim rod of dark wood with a tapered end – a magic wand, Erza realized. With a wave and a flick of the wand, the armor began to shrink itself around her body. "Well, what do you think?" he asked. Erza performed a variety of movements and exercises to test the maneuverability of the armor.

"It's perfect," she declared. And indeed in her mind it was: It was so light and flexible, she barely noticed that she even had it on; it was like it had been custom made for her instead of being bought off of a shelf several sizes too large.

Eventually the pair found themselves standing before the doors of the Fairy Tail guild hall. Harry pushed the doors open, and the sight that greeted them made Erza blink her eyes in confusion. The scene before her seemed less like a meeting place for the kingdom's greatest wizards and more like a particularly rowdy pub. The room was filled with the cacophony of several loud conversations, along with more than one fight. The closest one seemed to be between a girl close to Erza's age and the man closer to Harry's age that she currently had in a headlock. The girl had long white hair pulled back into a ponytail and was wearing a tight, revealing all-black attire consisting of a tank top that revealed her entire midriff, shorts, boots that reached up to her thighs, and collar. The man she was currently choking wore a white jacket over a dark blue shirt, with short blue hair and a shadow of a moustache on his lips.

"Mirajane, not getting into any trouble, I hope?" Harry asked chipperly. This caused the girl to stop her efforts and look up in shock before hastily arranging herself as if she were hanging her arm over the man's shoulder.

"Harry!" she exclaimed loudly, plastering a big, fake grin on her face. "No trouble here! Nope, just hanging out with my good buddy Macao here!" She pulled the man in closer while giving a nervous chuckle; the man just blinked in confusion.

"That's good," Harry said, either oblivious or uncaring at the teenager's obvious insincerity. "I'd hate to have a repeat our last discussion, don't you agree?" Though his voice and appearance remained cheerful, Erza thought she detected the slightest hint of menace in his words. This was confirmed when Mirajane suddenly went paler than she already and nervous sweat started to bead on her forehead.

"T-that won't be necessary," she stuttered slightly, fear evident in her tone. "Like I said, I'm just hanging out with my buddies!" As if to reinforce her declaration, she pulled in a man with a large, conical hairdo that had just sat down. Like his neighbor in Mirajane's "loving" embrace, he seemed mostly confused about the events occurring about him.

"Mm-hmm," Harry hummed, looking skeptical but apparently willing to let the matter drop when he turned to Macao. "So Macao, how's the wife doing?" he asked.

"Due any day now," the blue-haired man strained out; apparently, even when Mirajane was acting friendly, she still held him in a death grip. "Thanks for asking. Who's the girl?"

"New recruit," Harry explained. "Is Makarov here?" he asked, nonchalantly tilting his head to dodge a flying mug.

"Nah, he went out for something," Macao replied as he rubbed his sore neck, Mirajane having disappeared to another part of the guild. "He should be back any minute now."

"Guess we'll just wait here then," Harry said as he sat down across from the blue-haired man. Reaching into his robes, he pulled out a book and began to read, occasionally ducking to avoid flying debris. The leather-bound book had no title, and Erza suspected that some magic was involved in its concealment due to the fact that, despite causing no changes in the shape of his clothing, the book in Harry's hand was almost as large across as his torso.

"So are you a member of Fairy Tail as well?" Erza asked as she sat down next to Harry.

"Yup," Harry quipped, setting down his book and pulling off his left glove to reveal the symbol of the guild stamped onto the back of his left hand in crimson ink. "I don't take too many missions though." He seemed to think for a moment before amending himself. "Not solo, anyway. I often tag along with others; I just help out here and there." This caused both Macao and his companion – who he would later introduce as Wakaba – to burst out laughing.

"You're selling yourself a bit short there, my good man," the tube-haired man chuckled. Turning to face Erza, he pointed at Harry and said, "Because of this man, Fairy Tail is richer than it's ever been! If he's around whenever someone wrecks something during a job, he'll just wave his wand and fix it right up, good as new! And when he's around during times like this," he continued, waving his arms around to indicate the madness surrounding them, "he saves us a fortune in repairs. One time, a few of us were chasing down this monster that had leveled a town, and Harry here fixed it all like it never happened!"

"And if you recall, I was bedridden for almost two weeks due to exhaustion," Harry pointed out as he flipped a page in his book. "That particular application of my talents is not one I employ very often."

"Ehh, true…" Wakaba conceded.

"He also goes around town fixing broken things that people have," Macao contributed to the conversation. "And he knows some healing magic, so he patches up the minor injuries too. People around here call him the 'Fixer' because of it." He gave a soft chuckle before turning to Harry and saying, "You're probably the only one Porylusica even remotely likes because of that."

"Better not let her hear you say that," the bespectacled wizard replied in a deadpan. "She'd likely wash your mouth out with soap if she heard that." Erza blinked in confusion, unfamiliar with this "Porylusica" person. A loud bang coming from the entrance of the guild hall silenced all activity. Standing in the doorway was the largest man Erza had ever seen, his pointed had just barely brushing the top of the threshold.

"I leave you hooligans alone for ten minutes, and you're already trying to tear the guild hall apart?" the giant demanded in a loud, booming voice. As he stepped further into the building, his body shrank like a balloon releasing its air until he became an old man, barely exceeding Erza in height. "Well, I suppose it can't be helped," he said with a defeated sigh. Noticing Erza, his mood seemed to pick up. "Well, who's this lovely young lady?" he asked.

"Master Makarov?" Erza asked. At the old man's nod, she continued. "My name is Erza Scarlet," she introduced herself with a slight, clumsy bow. "I knew of friend of yours, Rob was his name."

"Robert?" Makarov exclaimed in surprise. "I thought he died. How is the old coot?" he asked excitedly. Erza's expression turned gloomy and she could not meet his gaze; the old master understood immediately. "I see," he said softly, silently mourning his lost friend once more. "I suppose he's at peace now, at least," he muttered mostly to himself. "You've probably come a long way to deliver that news, young lady. Is there any other business you'd like to attend here?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Erza replied, matching her gaze with his. "I'm here to request entry into Fairy Tail." Makarov raised a single eyebrow in interest.

"Really?" he asked, intrigued. "While I'm not opposed to it, what sort of magical skills do you have?"

"I saw her using requip magic," Harry said before Erza could answer. This seemed to impress the old wizard.

"Requip magic, eh?" he said, rubbing his chin in thought. "That could make you quite a powerful and versatile wizard with the right training. Very well, Miss Scarlet, I accept your request to join our guild." While Makarov explained the guild's rules and guidelines to Erza, Macao had gone behind the bar and produced a stamp and a pad of ink.

"Where do you want it, and what color?" he asked once Makarov had finished his lecture.

"Blue on my left arm, please," Erza answered as she removed her left shoulder guard and pulled up her sleeve. Macao pressed the stamp into the ink and pressed it again onto the skin of her arm. When he pulled back, the symbol of Fairy Tail was stained onto her skin in a dark blue. "Congratulations, you are now officially a member of Fairy Tail," he said as he stashed the equipment away. Erza felt a hand clasp on her shoulder and looked up to see Harry smiling down at her.

"Welcome to the family, kid," he said warmly. As others gathered around to welcome their newest addition, Erza remembered what Harry had said about his family helping him deal with his memories, and felt a smile growing on her face as well.

A family; she could get used to that.

This fic was inspired by a few fics, namely TeninChwang's _The Curse of Immortality_ as well as several of the Master of Death fics that seem to have popped up here recently – particularly cwysaphyre's Avengers crossover _Wanderer_. Incidentally, I recommend that you check both those fics out.

I don't plan on making this story especially long. While nothing is set in stone, I currently plan to only have one or two more chapters of comparable length to this one. By the end of this story, I do intend to explain Harry's presence in the Fairy Tail 'verse.

I hope you liked it, and don't forget to leave a review.


	2. Chapter 2

Just to let you know, there's going to be a bit of a time skip about halfway through the chapter.

I don't own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail.

* * *

Breathe in. Breathe out. Slow, and steady.

Erza stood in the East Forest near Magnolia Town, her eyes closed and her sword gripped tightly in her hands. Her ears strained to take in every minute sound of the forest around her: The trickling of the nearby stream; the woodland animals foraging for food nearby; the trees swaying ever so slightly in the breeze.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Slow, and steady.

Alongside the peaceful symphony of the forest, Erza barely heard the sound of grass being trodden on behind her. Her eyes springing open, she spun around and gave her sword a mighty swing. Though she only hit empty air, the sound of feet shuffling through the grass, as well as the faint shimmer in front of her confirmed that she had been right. Its presence discovered, the mostly-invisible being shot several beams of white light at her, an attack which she easily blocked with her sword before she launched a counter-attack. Each swing of her sword pushed the entity back further into the forest, until it managed to jump behind a cluster of trees. As Erza chased after her quarry, a great wind blew through, stirring up all the fallen leaves around her.

"Where did you go?" she hissed softly as her eyes darted back and forth, trying to reacquire her lost target. She kept her ears open as well, though it was hard to hear anything other than the cacophony of leaves rustling in the wind. From the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of white, but was too slow to block it and a stinging sensation coursed from her ear, like someone had pinched her hard. Caught off balance, another flash of light hit her in the knee, then another on her arm. The flashing and stinging kept coming until Erza threw down her sword in defeat.

"Not bad," a male voice said as a portion of the forest seemed to melt away, revealing Harry with wand in hand. "You're getting better at tracking me," he continued as he helped Erza up.

"Not good enough," the young girl muttered as she picked up her sword and slid it back into its sheath. She resisted the urge to rub her ear, still sore after being hit by whatever spell Harry had cast on her.

"Hey, you picked up in months what takes most people years to learn," Harry said in an attempt to cheer Erza up. "Trust me, you're making excellent progress. In time, you might even be able to beat me!" This seemed to lift her spirits, much to his satisfaction. "Let's go home, I'm starving," he said as he began to make his way back to town, Erza dashing to catch up to him.

In the few months since she had joined Fairy Tail, Erza had been seeking tutelage in magic and martial arts in between jobs. Several of the older guild members were teaching her the art of weaponry; one of them, only a few years older than Erza herself, also possessed requip magic, and was coaching the young redhead in its usage. Harry himself was a surprisingly capable fighter, despite his pacifistic role in the guild. Though he never used anything more painful than a stinging hex, he was a tricky, agile opponent, able to vanish and reappear elsewhere seemingly at will.

Erza took in the knowledge like a thirsty man to water, and despite her young age seemed to be well on her way to being one of the most skilled fighters in the guild. There was even a betting pool going around on whether or not she would be the youngest member to become an S-Class wizard, the top rank in any guild; the current record is held by Makarov's own grandson, Laxus Dreyar.

The duo returned to the Fairy Tail guild hall and settled down to eat their lunch – an entire strawberry cheesecake for Erza while Harry had fried fish with fries (which he insisted on calling chips for some reason). Their quiet meal – or as quite as it could be in the boisterous guild hall – was interrupted when the doors creaked open. In came Makarov, along with a boy who seemed a few years younger than Erza with spiky pink hair.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail!" the old man declared proudly. "I've got some work to do upstairs, so why don't you go get acquainted with everybody?" Nodding in satisfaction, the old man casually strolled his way up to the second level of the guild hall to attend to whatever business called his attention. Several seconds passed as the guild members and the new arrival stared at each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

"So, who the hell are you?" The silence was finally broken by one of the guild's younger members, an ice wizard named Gray Fullbuster. Despite his age, he was rather talented at his craft. However…

"Gray, be nice! And put some damn clothes on!"

…He had the unfortunate habit of subconsciously removing his clothes.

"Wha…? Ah, crap!" the young boy exclaimed when he looked down and saw that indeed, he had stripped himself down to his underwear. This caused the newcomer to begin laughing at Gray.

"The idiot can't even tell when his clothes are off!" he said between fits of laughter. This riled the ice wizard's temper to the point where he got up and shoved himself into the newcomer's face.

"Who're you calling an idiot, pinky?" the black-haired boy snarled angrily.

"The name's not 'Pinky', it's Natsu, and I am, you stupid streaker!" the pink-haired boy retorted, just as angrily.

"Stupid, am I?" Gray shouted as a frosty blue aura began flaring around him as he unconsciously began to use his powers.

"Yeah, I think you are!" Natsu replied as flames began to swell around him. As the two pre-teens continued their verbal sparring, each insult getting progressively nastier, Harry observed the whole spectacle from his table.

"Well, he's a lively one," he quipped bemusedly. Turning to Erza he asked, "So do you want to break it up, or should I?" The girl did not immediately answer as she shifted her vision from the fight back to her plate. On the one hand, fighting in the guild hall was against guild rules, not to mention incredibly annoying. On the other hand, she still had half a strawberry cheesecake left to finish. Harry seemed to notice her dilemma and chuckled as he stood up, saying, "Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it." After taking a bite of Erza's cheesecake – and ignoring her cry of protest – Harry left to break up Gray and Natsu's fight before their verbal blows gave way to physical ones.

"Tch, great," Erza heard Mirajane grumble from a nearby table, "just what this guild needs: Another violent, hot-headed moron."

"What, afraid you can't handle the competition?" the redhead sniped at her white-haired rival. The logical part of Erza's mind said that she should have just ignored the other girl's comment, but something about her dug deep into the young knight's skin and brought out the worst in her, practically compelling her to respond.

"Ooh, the prude's got some bite to her," Mirajane said, the sarcasm thick in her voice.

"My armor is both stylish and functional," Erza retorted, "unlike you, who just dresses like a skank." Mirajane's eye narrowed into slits at the barb.

"Who are you calling a skank, you stuck-up little bitch?" she hissed angrily. Erza opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Harry's voice.

"I hope you girls aren't fighting back there," he said as he looked over his shoulder at them. Being held at either side of him were Natsu and Gray, who were no longer hurling insults but still shooting murderous glares towards each other. All traces of hostility suddenly vanished from the teenage girls as they plastered large, brilliant smiles on their faces.

"Nope, no fighting," Mirajane said, appearing so innocent that the air seemed to sparkle around her.

"Just having a friendly conversation," Erza agreed as she dug into her cheesecake with renewed gusto. Apparently satisfied by what he saw and heard, Harry turned back to the two boys before him and continued to try and calm the two hot-headed young boys. As soon as Harry turned his back on them, the two girls dropped all pretences of civility and growled quietly at each other while glaring so intensely, one could almost see lightning arcing between the two.

At Mirajane's side, a young girl barely ten years old left her seat and walked up to the guild's new guest. Dipping into a curtsy, she introduced herself, "Hi there, my name's Lisanna."

Surprised by the girl speaking to him, Natsu's ire towards Gray melted away as he nervously stammered out, "Umm, err…hi there, name's Natsu."

Seemingly oblivious to his discomfort, Lisanna pointed to the table she had come from; across from Mirajane was a stocky young boy wearing a blue suit with a red bowtie, and sporting the same head of white hair as the two girls. "That's my big brother and sister, Elfman and Mirajane," Lisanna introduced to Natsu. Elfman waved cheerfully at the two; Mirajane, so engaged in her glaring contest with Erza, did not greet, or even acknowledge them. "I hope you'll be staying with us!" she continued. With her large, glittering eyes and hopeful smile, even the most hardhearted of men would be hard-pressed to deny the little girl; Natsu didn't stand a chance.

"Oh yeah, I'm definitely stayin', don't you worry about that!" he declared, beaming with enthusiasm. His reverie was interrupted by Harry clapping him on the shoulder.

"Then let's get you settled in, shall we?" Reaching behind the bar's counter, Harry brought out the stamp bearing the guild's symbol as well as the ink pad. A minute later, Natsu Dragneel became the latest member to join Fairy Tail, proudly bearing their flag on his right arm.

* * *

_**Three Years Later…**_

Mirajane gave a bored sigh as she perused the job board. The previous month she had earned the coveted rank of S-Class Wizard, the strongest wizards in any particular guild. Within Fairy Tail itself, there were only five wizards who held that prestigious honor: Herself, Makarov's grandson Laxus Dreyar; some weird guy named Mystogan who has a serious aversion to people seeing his face, always wearing a scarf around his head and knocking the whole guild out whenever he picks up a job; Gildarts Clive, another odd man who periodically wanders in, practically leveling the city while he's at it; and finally, much to Mirajane's annoyance, her rival Erza Scarlet. Though the two girls were the same age, the redhead had managed to beat her in the S-Class trials the year before, making her the youngest wizard to ever hold the rank at 16 years old.

Mirajane shook her head to rid herself of any budding thoughts about her rival and continued to stare at the job board. To her frustration, ever since she had obtained her S-Class ranking, none of the jobs set aside for those esteemed wizards had caught her interest. She had taken a few jobs to pay the bills, but she was looking for something that could really push her limits, something worthy of her time.

…Something like a call to exterminate a roving, nameless beast that was attacking villages. Apparently, a monster had been attacking isolated villages far away from any major city for almost a month now, leaving few if any survivors. According to its trail of destruction, its next likely target would be a small woodland town about a week's travel away. It also came with a ten million Jewel reward upon confirmation of its death. _Jackpot_, she thought triumphantly as she ripped the notice off the board.

"Yo Elfman, saddle up!" she called out. "We've got a job to do!" Elfman, now towering head and shoulders above his older sister, grabbed their bags and quickly fell in line behind her. Harry soon joined them; S-Class missions were considered the most dangerous of the lot, and collateral damage was almost a guarantee, which often necessitated his presence. As Mirajane explained the details of the mission to her brother, the trio searched the grounds for Lisanna, whom they found conversing with Natsu and Happy, the flying, talking blue cat that had come into their fold two years before.

"…Natsu ate my whole fish, and didn't even ask me first!" the feline complained.

"Whenever I eat _any_ fish, you say it's yours," Natsu retorted with a weary sigh.

"C'mon Lisanna," Elfman said as the two white-haired and one black-haired wizard approached. "Let's go, we gotta get to work."

"What?" Lisanna asked in surprise. "But we just finished a job, can't we take a little break?"

"Yeah, but it's an S-Class quest!" Elfman replied, excitement in his voice. "Mirajane wants us to come along and help her out with it!"

"No way!" Natsu immediately exclaimed. "That's totally unfair!"

"What kind of job is it?" Happy asked, ignoring Natsu's outburst.

"An emergency request," Mirajane replied, passing Lisanna the request form for perusal. "It just came in; apparently, they want us to kill this monster they call 'The Beast.'" Leaning towards the younger boy, she added teasingly, "Hey Natsu, wanna come with? You might learn a thing or two." While Natsu gritted his teeth at the mockery, Elfman voiced his own protests.

"I don't want him tagging along!" the tall young man complained. "I'm the man of this family and I can protect you both by myself!"

"Oh come on, stop hogging all the fun!" Natsu whined, stomping his feet like a child. "And if you're such a big man, then why's Harry tagging along?" he demanded.

"Don't bring me into this," the brunette wizard said as he wiped his glasses clean, with the edge of his shirt.

"Natsu," Lisanna said with the patient air of explaining something that a person should already know, "Harry always goes along with S-Class missions. He's the only one in the guild with the magic to repair damage so quickly." Natsu blinked dumbly as he came to this realization.

"Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot," he admitted sheepishly.

"Idiot," Mirajane grumbled under her breath. Turning to her sister, she said, "Grab your things, Lisanna, we're leaving in an hour."

"Okay!" the younger girl replied cheerfully as she ran back to the guild to pack. While Natsu sat on the ground sulking, Harry laid a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, Natsu," he said, trying to lift the teenager's sour mood. "Between me and Elfman, nothing's gonna happen Lisanna. You have my word." A few minutes later, Lisanna returned with her supplies and the quartet began to make their way to their destination.

"I hope we'll be able to stop the monster before it hurts any more people," Lisanna said worriedly.

"Don't worry about it, Sis," Mirajane replied, a picture of confidence as she draped an arm over her sister's shoulder. "With my strength, you and Elf backing me up, and Harry on clean-up duty, nothing can go wrong!"

Everything was going wrong.

It had all seemed so simple at first, Mirajane thought. They would arrive ahead of the Beast and evacuate the town. Then, she would use her Satan Soul magic to take to the air and deal the heavy blows while Elfman would hit it from the ground, maybe even absorbing its power in the process. Lisanna could use her Animal Soul magic to lend some additional air support, and Harry...Harry usually hung back and waited for the carnage to end so he could start repairing things, which was fine by her.

But the Beast was faster than they anticipated. By the time they arrived at the town, it was already being besieged by the monster. Mirajane and Elfman immediately set upon the monster, trying to draw its attention in order to bring it away from the city. Harry and Lisanna ran into the city, she trying to guide the panicking townsfolk into an orderly evacuation while he ran about healing the wounded.

While Harry herded the fear-stricken people to the edge of the town borders he risked a glance upwards and frowned at what he saw. While Mirajane had succeeded in drawing the monster away from the town, her mannerisms were unusual. Unlike her usual swift, powerful blows, the teenage wizard seemed to be hesitant and half-hearted in her attacks, like she did not want to harm it. The older wizard felt a familiar, unpleasant feeling settle in his gut.

"Something's not right," he muttered. He ordered Lisanna to continue overseeing the evacuation before disappearing with a pop. He reappeared at the far edge of town; he drew his wand and waved it around himself before he ran towards the scene of the battle. Mirajane flitted around the Beast's head, dodging to and fro while it tried to swat her down like an insect. Elfman was nowhere to be found. Bringing up his wand, Harry snapped out a stunning hex, but the monster was more than twice his height and possessed a thick hide. The spell simple bounced off with no effect; Harry doubted that it even noticed him. He barely resisted the urge to cry out when the Beast managed to catch Mirajane, carving a shallow trench in the earth as she was sent crashing down. As he ran towards the fallen girl, Harry shot a volley of hexes at the Beast's head. One found its mark, striking it in the face. The behemoth cried out in pain and anger as its eyes itched and burned. As the beast wailed and thrashed about, Harry waved his wand over Mirajane, healing several of her wounds.

"Harry…" she groaned softly, still reeling from her forced grounding.

"Mira, what's going on? Where's Elfman?" Harry asked urgently, keeping an eye on the monster in case its attention turned back on them.

"Elfman…" she groaned again as Harry helped her to her feet. "Elfman tried to use his magic to absorb the Beast. It worked, but…something went wrong. Its mind overpowered his, and well…" she waved her hand at the monster before them now.

"Wait, _that's_ Elfman?" Harry exclaimed incredulously. _Crap, this complicates things_, he thought to himself. His repertoire of offensive spells was tailored towards fighting and subduing humans, not giant monsters. A dark voice in his head reminded him that he did know spells that would stop the Beast's rampage, but they all resulted in the death or permanent maiming of the target, which was not an option if it really was Elfman.

His mental dilemma was interrupted when Beast-Elfman recovered from Harry's spell and retaliated by trying to crush them under hand, prompting the wizard to pop himself and Mirajane out of the way.

"Can you still fight?" Harry asked, firing another volley at Beast-Elfman, which bounced ineffectually against his hide.

"Yeah, I can," Mirajane confirmed. Her body was momentarily enveloped in light before it dispelled. Her forearms were covered with green scales and her fingers ended in sharp talons. A more alarming change in her physique was the long, coiling tail and pair of black, leathery wings that sprung forth from her back.

Being resistant to most of his spells, Harry resorted to binding Beast-Elfman still with meters upon meters of conjured rope that coiled around the monster like snakes while Mirajane took flight and tried to beat her brother into unconsciousness. But Elfman's new, larger form also came with greatly increased strength, forcing Harry to focus all his attention on keeping him bound, lest he break free from his bonds.

"Hey Harry, I finished evacuating the town and – what's going on?" Lisanna asked as she started to approach Harry. He turned to the young girl and yelled to get back, but the momentary lapse in concentration was enough for Beast-Elfman to snap the ropes restraining him. With a speed the belied his great size, Beast-Elfman slapped Mirajane away before dashing forward and knocking Harry into the nearby woods.

The spell that Harry had casted upon himself before he entered the battle was a variation of one that he had learned in his youth that repelled rainwater from his glasses. The version that he had used created a magical field just over the surface of his body that repelled flying debris such as rocks or similar objects. It was designed to protect the body against shrapnel during a battle.

It was _not_ designed to protect against being backhanded by a monster hard enough to break straight through a solid pine tree.

The attack had sent a sharp pain through Harry's chest, and hit hard enough to send the man flying without the use of wings or any external apparatus. But when he struck the tree, a fiery pain lanced through his back and into his brain. It was a pain that he had not felt for many years, and hoped never to experience again. As he tumbled to a halt, the overwhelming pain dominated Harry's senses for several agonizing seconds before he mercifully blacked out.

He didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but when Harry returned to the land of the living, he saw Mirajane and a now human Elfman nervously hovering over him. He noticed that their eyes both seemed red and puffy, like they had been crying. The next thing Harry noticed was that absolutely everything about him hurt. Oddly, his legs also felt strangely numb. That probably wasn't good.

"Where—" he began before stopping. It hurt for him to breathe, which meant that he had at least one fractured rib. Although considering the beating that he had just suffered, he wouldn't be surprised if his entire ribcage was broken into tiny pieces. "Where's my wand?" he finally managed to gasp out.

"I don't know," Mirajane replied. "You must have dropped it when…well, when you got hurt," she said. His neck hurting too much to move his head, Harry merely grunted in acknowledgement.

Gingerly moving his arms, he reached into his right sleeve and drew another wand. Unlike his other, smoother wand, this one had knots along its length. With a flick of the wooden object, his original wand came soaring from wherever it had fallen in the woods, thankfully intact. Slowly shifting so that the tip of his wand was to his mouth, he began to whisper into the wooden rod, too softly for either of the teenagers to hear except for the final two words.

"…_Expecto patronum_." Aiming his wand outward, a ghostly silver stag burst forth from the tip. The majestic beast barely spared the trio a glance before it galloped off into the distance, quickly disappearing from view. "Told Porlyusica to get ready," he explained before they could ask. "Where's Lisanna?" he asked when he noticed that the youngest of their number was absent. When neither Mirajane nor Elfman would look him in the eye, he knew the answer. "I see," he said softly, his vision blurring as tears began to well up in his eyes. Blinking the tears away, Harry tried to lift himself up, which only caused a fresh wave of pain to course through him.

"How are we going to get you home? You're in no condition to be moved," Mirajane said, unsure of what to do.

"I have a way," Harry said, not mentioning that his method would not be pleasant for any of them, him especially. "One of you go and find a rope or a branch, something long enough for all of us to grab," he ordered.

"Go," Mirajane told Elfman, who took off without a word. A minute later, he returned with a freshly broken tree branch nearly a meter in length.

"Grab on," Harry said. Setting the branch down on his chest so that he didn't have to reach up, both he and Mirajane grasped the branch, Harry pressing his wand into it with the other. "This is gonna suck," he grumbled to himself. "_Portus_." The three instantly felt a tugging sensation behind their navels as they were whisked back to the Fairy Tail guild hall. Unfortunately, the landing was less than smooth, and crashing into the floor caused Harry to give out a blood-curdling scream as pain coursed through his body. Fortunately for him, at that moment Porlyusica burst through the doors. She was a hard-faced old woman with pink hair and blood-red robes. In her arms was a rolled up medical stretcher.

"You two help me get him on the stretcher," she ordered the nearest two guild members. Between their concern for Harry and fear of the healer before them, the two volunteers proceeded with all haste. By then, Harry's screams had been reduced to seething hisses. His broken body was moved from the floor to the canvas stretcher; the whole ensemble was then lifted up and swiftly but carefully evacuated him to Porlyusica's home in the woods.

"What happened?" Natsu asked, stunned into a stupor by the whole display. "Where's Lisanna?"

"The mission went south," Mirajane replied, her voice and demeanor unusually subdued. "And Lisanna…she's dead," she added with a sob. The whole guild gasped at the news, but none were so visibly affected as Natsu, who reeled back in shock.

"Dead…?" he gasped in disbelief. "How can – how can she be dead?" he demanded.

"It was my fault," Elfman admitted, hanging his head in shame. Natsu turned his attention towards the taller man.

"Your fault?" he echoed. His shock quickly turned to anger as he began to yell at Elfman, gouts of flame bursting from his mouth. "How could you?! She was your sister; you said you'd protect her! You keep going on about how you're a man, but you killed her!" Before he could continue his rant any further, Natsu's world exploded in a burst of pain and stars filled his vision. When he came to his senses, he found himself on the floor with a sore jaw. Standing before him was Mirajane, tears streaming down an otherwise murderous visage and being held back by Erza.

"_Shut up!_" she screamed, struggling to escape Erza's grip, but the redhead was too strong to overpower. "You don't know a damn thing about what happened out there, so just _shut your hole!_"

"He killed Lisanna!" Natsu shouted back, jumping to his feet and pointing an accusing finger at Elfman. "Your own sister! I can say whatever the hell I want to him!"

"_**ENOUGH!**_" Makarov bellowed loud enough to rattle the highest rafters of the building. "Tonight was nothing less than a tragedy," he continued, glaring at both of the arguing wizards. "Lisanna was a friend to us all, and we will all mourn her death. But fighting isn't going to bring her back, so I suggest that everybody go home and get some rest, hopefully tomorrow we'll all have cooler heads." The old, diminutive man gave a shuddering sigh, like he was fighting the urge to break into tears himself. "I will make an announcement once the funeral arrangements have been made. Good night, everyone." Makarov turned around and marched back upstairs into his office, to begin the arrangements for Lisanna's funeral or else to mourn her loss in private.

Now that Mirajane no longer seemed intent on viciously murdering Natsu, Erza's hold on her loosened enough for the white-haired girl to break free. Shooting each other one last, furious glare, Natsu stormed back to the dorm that he shared with Happy while Mirajane left the guild to return to the apartment that she and her siblings shared, Elfman quickly following.

As the crowd slowly dispersed, Erza stood in the middle of the guild hall wondering what she should do. A great deal of her wanted to run to Harry's side, the man that she had grown to consider something of an elder brother. But a voice in the back of her head – one that sounded like Harry, funnily enough – said that Mirajane needed her attention more than Harry did at the moment. Her inner conflict eventually concluded that Harry would rather she be comforting Mirajane, so Erza headed towards her apartment. It was near the guild hall, and the two remaining siblings had already returned by the time Erza came to their door. Elman answered when she knocked.

"Erza?" he exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here? Come in," he beckoned, stepping aside to allow Erza entry. The apartment was two stories, with the bedrooms on the second floor; the bottom was modestly furnished.

"How are you, Elfman?" the redheaded knight asked. Internally she cringed; it was a stupid question to ask of someone who had just lost their sister, but she couldn't think of anything else to say.

"I'm fine," the tall man said. "I'm a man, and men always have control over their emotions!" He gave a laugh, but it was weak and forced. "Seriously though, I'll be fine. Mira's a wreck, though. She's holed herself up in Lisanna's room and crying her eyes out. She could really use a friend right now," he said.

"I thought she would," Erza agreed, though she would hardly define their relationship as "friendly". "Where's Lisanna's room?"

"Upstairs, first door on the left," Elfman replied. Nodding in thanks, Erza ascended the stairs and came up to the appropriate room. Though the door, she could hear the faint sounds of sobbing coming from within. She softly rapped her knuckles on the door.

"Go away, Elfman!" she heard Mirajane shout back.

"It's me," Erza responded. Several seconds passed before Mirajane permitted her entry. The walls of the room were painted a light shade of pink, and the furniture was liberally decorated with stuffed animals of all kinds. Mirajane sat on the floor at the edge of the bed. Her hair ribbon was removed, allowing her long white hair to drop freely across her shoulders.

"What do you want?" she groused.

"Elfman thought you needed a friend right now," Erza answered as she swapped her armor with a modest but comfortable set of pajamas and sat down next to Mirajane.

"You're not the first person I would have picked for that job," the other girl said with a derisive scoff. "Still," she added more gently, "I know I'm not the easiest person to get along with, so thanks, I guess."

Erza didn't know what else to say. Even though spending several years in the guild had vastly improved her social skills, she was still someone who preferred to solve problems with her blades or fists, so she sat silently and waited for Mirajane to speak.

"It's all my fault," she finally choked out. "It's my fault Lisanna's dead." Having neither received nor apparently expecting a response, she continued, "It was my idea to bring her along. I should have left her behind, but I wanted to impress her. I wanted to have an audience when I scored my first S-Class mission." The sobs increased in intensity, so Erza wrapped her arm around her rival and pulled her into her shoulder. "And now because of my damn pride, my baby sister's dead, and there isn't even a body left to bury." Erza could think of no words of comfort to offer, so she simply sat and provided a shoulder for Mirajane to cry on until she either ran out of tears, or became too weak to continue.

She would remain for the rest of the night.

* * *

When Harry awoke, it was morning. The agonizing pain throughout his body had been reduced to a dull ache, though he still hurt too much in too many places to consider moving. His attention shifted to Porlyusica, who came up to him with a tray holding four small vials.

"Stuck in bed with various pains…" he muttered to himself.

"Good, you're awake, drink these," the ill-tempered healer demanded, practically shoving the potions into his hands.

"…Being cared for by a grouchy old lady…" Harry continued as he began to take his medicine, grimacing all the while. "Being forced to choke down foul-tasting potions. Paint these walls a blinding, sterile white and it'll be like I never left home."

"I'm glad to know that you have most of the comforts that you are familiar with," Porlyusica said without a hint of humor.

"Ahh, Porlyusica, glad to see that your bedside manner is as delightful as ever," Harry replied far more cheerfully than a man in his position ought to.

"What was all that blathering for, anyway?" she asked as she put away the potion vials and began to prepare a simple broth for Harry to drink.

"Just thinking out loud, is all," Harry admitted. "So, what's the damage?"

"In the future, I'd much prefer you keep your thoughts in your head where they belong," the elderly healer said. "And the _damage_ was quite severe," she continued. "You had a concussion, several broken ribs, and your spinal column had so many fractures that it's amazing that it didn't break entirely. There's also numerous breaks and fractures along your various limbs. In short, it's a miracle that you made it out of…whatever you were doing, alive and whole." The brew had come to a boil, so she scooped some into a bowl and passed it to her patient. "As it is, you'll be stuck here for several weeks."

"Lovely," Harrry said sarcastically as he sipped his broth. "Can I at least have something to read to pass the time?" he asked. Porlyusica spent a minute pondering the request.

"If you behave, I may give you something," she finally answered.

"Fair enough," Harry conceded as he drained the last of his soup. "Well, that was good, but it's time for me to get back to resting. The quicker I recover, the sooner I can be free of your tender mercies."

"Please do, you'll be doing us both a favor," Porlyusica said sarcastically. As Harry settled in for his nap, she muttered softly, "Stupid humans are always throwing themselves in harm's way. Don't these fools know that you can only die once?" Though Harry's eyes were closed, he was still awake and managed to catch everything she said. As she busied herself with other things, he thought on her words.

_Can only die once, huh? _He thought before mentally giving a dry, humorless laugh. _Oh, if only that were true…._

* * *

Well, that went on a bit longer than I expected. I hope you enjoyed it.

Happy 2013! I hope everybody had a good holiday season, now help me welcome in the new year by leaving a review.


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